SO..is this a realistic 2 year goal?

[Tim Haas]

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Hey all...Last year was my first year in college...i did well, and majored in mechanical engineering and had like a 3.2. Anyways, im switching schools and majors. Pretty much i have none of my premed req's done at all, no research or volunteer work, etc. SO here's the deal.

I went to Rochester Institute of Tech for ME for a year, hated it, now going to Univ of PItt for Neuroscience in the fall. My goal is to complete my degree in 2 years, so i'd graduate end of summer in 06'...

Is this realistic at all? I'd have to take ochem, chem, bio, physics, mcat, do a ton of volunteer work, and i'd def get involved in research cuz pitt is amazing for that...

Thing is, im no genius, and i realize that a lot of you aren't...however, i do try hard when im interested in my work, and if it has nothing to do w/ engineering 🙂 ...........

I will most likely have to work part time 20 hours a week at least also, if PITT won't give me on campus housing..

Thanks for your time.

 

[Tim Haas]

oh, and by 2 years...i mean 6 semesters.....I have about 30 credits that will transfer over...for neuroscience degree, pitt says i need at least 59 credits in the basics, such as intro to neuro, all the premed courses, etc.

Any input?

 

[2DEG]

>>Only you know if you have talent in natural science courses as opposed to >>engineering. I know there is a huge difference between the two.

This statement is so true for my situation. I majored in Electrical Engineering. And I truly never never liked a single course and I did very poorly. I know its too late now, but I wish I didn't major in Engineering. So, when I started taking pre-med courses, I was not sure if I will do well.

And I did very well. I started with chemistry courses. And I loved all of them, especially organic chemistry II. I feel like I resonate with life science courses not the engineering/physics stuff. As a result, I did very well in these courses as well.

Since I have the floor..let me ask you people.. with 2.89 undergrad GPA, any realistic possibility of getting into med school ? Assuming I do very well in the post-bacc courses (4 chemistry, 2 biology, genetics, microbiology, medical biochem). I will work very hard to do my best in MCAT as well. I guess, there is no way to find out other than giving it a shot. But I still would love to get any feedback.

Take care all..

S.
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"Everyone has photographic memory, some just don't have film" -- S. Wright.

 

[HessExpress]

Your goal is possible. Besides the fact that you haven't taken the med prereqs, what about the neuroscience degree lower div. courses? Do your credits transfer over to cover these before you take the upper level stuff?

Maybe your problem is that your major is too specific. Maybe you like neuroscience a lot, but this degree isn't very different from your typical bio degree - maybe by 3 or 4 classes tops. What's wrong with just a bio degree? A bio degree will give you more flexibility in what courses you can take, and thus increase your chances of graduating when you want to. (I.e. - I doubt any neuroscience courses are offered over the summer).

 

[Tim Haas]

Thanks all..here I go...


Yeah, im counting summers as semesters. I realize that not all classes are offered during the summers, but then again i can take some community college courses either in pitt or at a Comm college near pitt, or back home during the summer. And, oddly enough...several neuroscience courses are offered during the summer.

The neuroscience degree is a bio degree but they require you to have about 6 classes involving neuroscience for the major...everything else i have to take, is premed stuff. So im pretty much set.

Also, the majority of the neuroscience majors at pitt DO apply to medschool, so i'd be set anyways. In engineering, i only had one physucks course(I was on a quarter system so all of my credits are screwed up but most transfer partially at least).

I'm not worried out the credits. I'm also using the fact that I told myself i'd end up a doctor no matter what for the longest time, and i'd get thru undergrad either w/ engineering or a more trad route...so im using the the hatred for engineering to do extrememly well in my premed courses.

Well, thank you all for your advice.

 

[dmk724]

Thanks all..here I go...
Yeah, im counting summers as semesters. I realize that not all classes are offered during the summers, but then again i can take some community college courses either in pitt or at a Comm college near pitt, or back home during the summer. And, oddly enough...several neuroscience courses are offered during the summer.

The neuroscience degree is a bio degree but they require you to have about 6 classes involving neuroscience for the major...everything else i have to take, is premed stuff. So im pretty much set.

I'm not worried out the credits. I'm also using the fact that I told myself i'd end up a doctor no matter what for the longest time, and i'd get thru undergrad either w/ engineering or a more trad route...so im using the the hatred for engineering to do extrememly well in my premed courses.

I went to Pitt for undergrad (graduated a few months ago actually), and yes, Pitt offers a lot of summer courses, so that's not usually a problem. You might be lucky enough to kill two birds with one stone - I worked part time (and got paid to do so) at a bio research lab. The nice thing about Pitt is that we're inundated with labs in every department: neuroscience, biology, chemistry (although it's really hard to get a job there), physics, human genetics, psychiatry, medicine, etc. Most will pay you, but you'll probably have to do "troll" work for the first year or so, like washing dishes and stuff. At least you'll get your foot in the door and will be able to attend lab meetings and things like that.

I guess you COULD take classes at CCAC (community college of Allegheny county), but they might not transfer. Transfering classes at Pitt is really strange - sometimes, they won't even accept classes from their own satellite campuses (like Pitt Johnstown, etc.) I really wouldn't recommend it, and getting to the CCAC campuses can be a real pain unless you have a car.

I'm not sure why you seem so set on graduating in 2 years - wouldn't that just mean 3 years of college in total? In any case, I congratulate you for your determination to get to med school! If you have any questions about Pitt, feel free to PM me. I really loved my 4 years in Pittsburgh, and I hope you enjoy your time here too.

 

[Tim Haas]

dmk, thanks for your reply.

That's really reassuring. I absolutely hated Rochester,NY. HOrrible atmosphere and the amount of medical related research they had there was sad. There was none.

Anyways, I pretty much want to get out of my house ASAP cuz i can't stand living here. Having 5 people living in a half of a house is horrible, especially when you can't study or do anything productive when there are people always making noise.
Not that I am set on the 2 year thing, but yeah i'd have an undergrad degree in 3 years then. I just feel so useless right now sitting at home during the usmmer just working and no classwork...and i hate that feeling.

Oh well, thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[gary5]

You're going to want a gpa of 3.5 or higher for med school applications. Realize that if your gpa is too low and your MCAT is too low, you'll have to find another career. So choose carefully.

 

[Kazema]

Tim, sent you a PM.

 

[erinmed2k4]

actually there is a significant amount of medically related research happening in the city of Rochester, NY however most of it is happening at the Univ of Rochester...likely it is not happening at RIT since it doesn't have a med school(just in case anyone who might be interested in the UR was worried)...

 

[Tim Haas]

Gary, i realize that to make myself a good candidate I will need above a 3.5...thing is when I hate something so much(engineering)...yeah you get the point.

I chose engineering at RIT/premed because RIt makes you do 5 coops which would almost allow me to pay off my undergrad tuition. I then realized after one year of engineering that i'm done w/ it. I believe i'll be fine next year tho, at a different college and a diff major. Thanks

Kazema thanks a lot for the pm; very helpful.

Erin-Yeah I know U of R has excellent medical research and the such going on. However, it's 40k a year and it's still in Rochester so that's a double negative that still doesn't equal a positive for me.

Thanks a lot all.

 

[anutka21]

Hi, I am also neuroscience major at Pitt and plan to graduate in 2 years. I also transfered schools and I know that it is not an easy decision, but I work 40 hr/week, take 15-17 credits every semester, volunteer, etc. So, I think it is pretty doable and Pitt is a great school for that. Anyway, if you have any questions regarding classes or something, feel free to pm me